Soon another year will be over and a new one will start. This is not news and as long as I live it always has been like that. One year passes and another one begins. I notice it not only because of the celebrations going on but as my birthday is on the first of January with each beginning year I get older quite literally.
Wikipedia describes the New Year as follows:
The New Year is the day that marks the time of the beginning of a new calendar year, and is the day on which the year count of the specific calendar used is incremented. For many cultures, the event is celebrated in some manner
As such not that interesting of a quote, I mean we all know what we celebrate on New Year, right? When I watch TV or read around in the web I find a lot of looking back, what has happened in 2011. Today on the Freshly pressed blogs I came across a post entitled “2012: A look ahead“. So my question that I address to you guys now is: Do we celebrate the end of 2011 or do we celebrate the beginning of 2012?
New Year celebrations
I think some people like to use the opportunity to look back whereas others are looking ahead. As I have discovered before: Time is not universally seen in the same way. People are different and they use this day for varying purposes. I personally think that it is a good idea to reflect on the past but it might also be a good motivation to make resolutions. Again others use it as an opportunity for celebration, meeting friends and having fireworks light up the sky. In fact it is just like Seneca says:
Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.
For Europeans it seems that most of us are used to the first of January as the beginning of the New Year. Even though this has changed only in the 18th century according the above cited Wikipedia article. It seems that no other day is possible. One thing I learned I sociology class is that people get used to their environment and it´s practices or rituals become the norm . Since 25 years I always celebrate New Year on first January, of course it is normal.
But it is not for many people. It is only recently that we changed to this habit and some cultures do not celebrate New Year on the first of January. The Chinese New Year for example occurs every year on the new moon of the first lunar month. This year, I learned, that it will be on 23 of January. The Persian New Year is celebrated around the 21 of March. These are two examples that are just meant to remind you, that not everybody is preparing and making New Years resolutions right now.
Anyways I wish you guys all a good start in the New Year
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Funny, isn’t it? When you come to think of it New Years Eve is just a day like any other, but many people all around the world celebrate it. In the end what we celebrate of the beginning of each calendar year is simply time and the passing of it. Sure that can be scary and sad, but it’s all we have, really. Your life is nothing more than a period of time, one event happening after another from the day you are born up until the day you die. These events shape your identity and they influence how you see the world, how you feel and how you think. And while time is passing your story starts to take more shape; the story of a life once lived. I like looking at the 31. December as the end of a chapter of this “story”. As soon as the one chapter ends a new one already begins. When you look at it that way the countdown is nothing more than counting down time into more time. All we do is greeting time. It doesn’t really matter if you look back or not, but I believe that you can’t avoid thinking about the past because the chapters are connected. The old year is not simply over and that’s it. The passing of time and the encounters we have and all the challenges we have to face change us. We change constantly; so sooner or later you have to confront the past.
Sorry for the choppy English, I’m a bit out of it today. Anyways, happy (belated) new Year to you, too :)